Dayuhan, You are not going to convince me that intervention in this case is unwise any more than I am going to convince you that it is the least bad choice. I guess you and I are going to have to agree to disagree ... or disagree on agreeing ... your choice.

JMM, regarding international law, there is no such beast. Why the President keeps referring international norms. Norms are generally agreed upon social conventions, like turning around and facing the doors when you get into an elevator. Laws are norms that everyone agrees are so important that they have been codified and breaking them results in punishing the offender. No such animal exist in the international sphere.

Holmes explains why this is - law is based on "actual feelings and demands of the community." This would require the world community to agree on how they feel about sovereignty or whether food and healthcare are reasonable demands of a states citizens. Since there is no internationally agreed upon common norms that are so important to every member of the group that they agree to create enforceable laws, there are none. The rest is all legal mambo-jumbo.